Grafton RISE reflects on Indigenous People’s Day with a walk in the woods

On October 11, 2021 Grafton Racial Inclusion and Social Equity (RISE) observed its first Indigenous People’s Day event with a walk in the Hassanamesit Woods.  

The event followed a busy summer where members of RISE organized, proposed, and won a holiday name change at Town Meeting.  After discussing different ideas to honor IPD, the organizers of RISE spoke with Chief Cheryll Toney Holley and Brittney Walley of the Nipmuc Nation.  Chief Toney Holley stressed the importance of a connection with nature in Nipmuc culture.  A nature walk seemed like the perfect fit that would both ensure covid safety precautions and allow non-Native and Native members to observe the spirit of the holiday in their own way.

 On a typical New England overcast and warm fall day, RISE and greater community members gathered to mark what is hoped to become an annual celebration.  There was a land acknowledgement read by Dr. Lisa Krissoff Boehm and a reflection on Grafton´s connection to the Nipmuc Nation. 

“We stand on the land that belonged to the Nipmuc people,” Dr. Krissoff Boehm described, “Only some of this land is now in the hands of our Nipmuc neighbors. This realization is uncomfortable, but it is also true.”

In 2021, the School Committee of Grafton led the way to establish Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the Public Schools of Grafton and RISE members carried this further to have IPD established as a Town Holiday in order to start a journey to reconnect with Grafton’s Nipmuc roots. The walk in the woods marked RISE’s  first small step in the process as children spotted and poked mushrooms, dogs on leashes frolicked in mud and the group traveled through Grafton’s woods to reflect on our town’s past and the present.  

The weekend event itself coincided with greater state-wide efforts described at http://MAIndigenousAgenda.org.  Legislative priorities of MA Indigenous Agenda, as described on their website, include: “eliminating Native American mascots, honoring Indigenous People’s Day, celebrating and teaching Native American culture & history, protecting Native American heritage, and supporting the education and futures of Native youth.”  Grafton is in position to support the agenda with the choosing of a new mascot and the passing of IPD.

— Submitted by Rachel M. Gerstein, Grafton RISE

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